Share prices were flat Tuesday on late-session profit taking, but not before the stock market index breaching the 7,000-mark.
The peso closed up.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index was up 0.38 points to 6,984.63, a 0.005 percent hike.
The broader All Shares index was up 8.25 points or 0.22 percent to 3,786.30.
Gainers edged losers 111 to 82 with 65 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P7.26 billion.
Prospects of another rate cut by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Fed’s dovish pivot have driven the country’s main stock index past the 7,000 level.
The peso closed at 56.385 to the dollar, up from 56.52 on Monday.
The currency opened at 56.45 and hit a high of 56.35 and a low of 56.59. Trading turnover reached $1.57 billion.
The reported 7.2- percent rise in July import, resulting to the largest trade deficit since March 2023, put a downward pressure on the peso on fear the trade deficit could deplete the country’s foreign exchange reserves and increase demand for foreign currencies.
The peso declined for a third straight session.
Juan Paolo Colet, China Bank Capital Corp. managing director, said the benchmark index traded “strongly” above 7,000 for most of the session until it succumbed to sharp market-on-close selling that pushed the PSEi below its major resistance to end the day just a slight notch above yesterday’s close.
Colet said the repeated failure to close above 7,000 “should caution investors that there is a fairly high risk of a pullback from current levels.”
Most actively traded BDO Unibank Inc. was down P4.50 to P155. International Container Terminal Services Inc. was up P5 to P407. Ayala Land Inc. was down P0.25 to P35.70. SM Investments Corp. was down P12 to P908. Universal Robina Corp. was up P1.30 to P92. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was up P1.20 to P31.75. Bank of the PhilippineIslands was down P1 to P124. Ayala Corp. was steady at P612. Security Bank Corp. was down P0.90 to P77.30. Converge ICT Solutions Inc. was up P0.82 to P16.26.
